Ramp Rider

Guided Small Group

1. Have children work with a partner to set up a cardboard ramp. Make sure children have enough blocks to make the ramp incline steep enough for a stuffed animal to slide down it, even if slowly. Give each pair of children a stuffed animal and have them send the animal down the ramp. Possible discussion ideas:
   • How does your stuffed animal move down the ramp?
   • Does it slide fast? Do you think there is a way to make it slide faster?
2. Tell children that they are going to design a ramp rider sled for their stuffed animal that will make the animal slide more quickly down the ramp. Encourage them to use any of the materials you have gathered to make the sled.
3. Invite children to touch the materials and talk about the different textures. Remind children that their task is to choose a material that will make a slippery sled to help their animal slide down the ramp faster than it did without a sled. Encourage children to listen and respond to each other’s ideas.
4. When children have created a sled that allows the animal to successfully slide to the bottom of the ramp, have them demonstrate for the group. Possible discussion ideas:
   • Why do you think your animal slides down the hill faster when it is on the sled?
   • Do you think there is more friction when the animal slides down the ramp with or without the sled?
   • Note: If children are having a difficult time observing differences in how fast/slow the animal is moving, you may want to tape a blanket over the cardboard to cause more friction between the animal and the ramp to slow it down even more.
5. Tell children that they will document their ramp rider sled designs by taking “before” and “after” videos with the Slow It Down Videos digital tool in the Ramps Journal.
   • First, one partner will take a video of the toy animal going down the ramp without a sled.
   • Then the other partner will take a video of the animal sliding down the ramp on a sled.
6. Watch the videos together. Remember to tap the orange video button once everyone is in position, but to not release the animal until after the app’s audio prompt, “Ready? Set? Go!”

Learning Center

1. Invite children to rewatch the slow-motion Ramp Rider videos from the Slow It Down Videos digital tool taken in the Small Group sessions. Remind them to observe what happens closely.
2. As you stop by this center, engage children in conversation. Have them focus on describing how the stuffed animals move at different speeds with and without a sled and on sleds of different materials. Encourage children to recall the textures of the sled materials and think about why some sled materials caused the animals to move faster or slower than other materials. Use similar prompts as above.

Circle Time: Wrap-Up

1. Display the toy animals and the sled-making materials used in the Guided Small Group activity, and have children recall some of their Ramp Rider experiments. Possible discussion ideas:
   • What toy animal did you use in your Ramp Rider experiments? Describe the texture of the animal. Was it smooth? Rough? Fuzzy? Slippery?
   • What happened when you put the toy animal on the cardboard ramp?
   • Why do you think that happened? Do you think there was a lot of friction or a little friction between the toy animal and the ramp?
   • Encourage children to rub their hands together to experience friction and sense how it can slow down the motion of an object sliding down a ramp.
2. Watch and discuss two or three child-created slow-motion Ramp Rider videos of a stuffed animal attempting to slide down the ramp without a ramp rider sled. Have children rub their hands together when they notice that there is a lot of friction between the animal and the ramp.
   • Which animal do you notice creates the most friction?
3. Have children recall the materials they selected to make a ramp rider sled for their animal. Possible discussion ideas:
   • Why did you decide to use that material? How would you describe the texture of the sled material?
   • Do you think there will be more friction or less friction when the animal goes down the ramp on a slippery sled?
   • Do you predict that the animal on a sled will move faster or slower than the animal without a sled?
4. Watch and discuss the related slow-motion Ramp Rider videos that show the animals traveling down the ramp on a sled.
   • Did the animals on sleds move faster or slower than the animals without sleds? Why do you think that was?

Learning Center

1. Invite children to rewatch the slow-motion Ramp Rider videos from the Slow It Down Videos digital tool taken during Small Group sessions. Remind them to observe what happens closely.
2. As you stop by this center, engage children in conversation describing how the animals move at different speeds with and without a sled and on sleds of different materials. Encourage children to recall the textures of the sled materials and think about why some sled materials caused the animals to move faster or slower than other materials. Use similar prompts as above.